John F. Mello: Parents, Teachers and Students


	It is of utmost importance that a student's first guitar be both comfortable to play and capable of producing a pleasing sound. Many an aspiring musician has been discouraged by a guitar that is difficult for even his/her teacher to play, and incapable of producing a sound even close to what he or she hears demonstrated. We stock both classical and steel string student instruments carefully selected and prepared to give the student a positive, encouraging start. We have a liberal trade-in allowance when the player advances to the next level, and a generous buy-back policy should the instrument no longer be needed.
All entry level instruments:

Are constructed with solid tops for the richest sound.
Have their frets accurately leveled in our shop, are fitted with a bone saddle, and are carefully adjusted at the nut and bridge for optimum playability.
Are comprehensively warranteed by our shop, not some remote warranty station. Complimentary with each purchase are action height adjustments if the student's or his/her teacher's requirements change, and seasonal truss rod adjustments when necessary, both for the lifetime of ownership.
Additionally, all of our steel string guitars have their internal braces reduced dimensionally to produce sound uncommon in their price range.

Our trade-in policy offers full value at any time for sound instruments traded in for more advanced models. We also buy back a sound instrument at any time for one half of the purchase price, or consign it at twenty percent, which will typically yield a return of about sixty to seventy percent of the original purchase price.

Our goal is to help parents and students get an instrument that encourages learning while minimizing the financial risk should the student decide to discontinue study. A cheap guitar is discouraging, and has little value when abandoned, often thrown in a closet to reappear in a garage sale ten years later for $25. A quality instrument from our shop, while requiring a little more initial investment, is less expensive in the long run, both in the time a student can study before needing a better instrument, and in the money lost should interest wane. In fact, in our ten years of offering student instruments, only one person, an adult with an overloaded schedule, has sold back an instrument due to lack of interest. Most of the remainder have either been traded for upper level guitars, or are still in use by the original owner, or a sibling, parent, or friend who's still enjoying a moderately priced guitar that sounds great and is easy to play.

We offer instruments that feed a student's enthusiasm, optimize a parent's investment in quality instruction, and help teachers develop a long-term, regularly attending complement of students. Please review our inventory of student guitars, and contact me with any questions.